Political Commentary

Sri Lanka today is one of the more peaceful countries in the world. The Global Peace Index ranks it 57th out of 173 countries, a jump of more than 30 places in the past year. However, it must never be forgotten that Sri Lanka has also experienced periods of gruesome violence. To forget these periods or gloss over them is to risk repeating them. These include the two JVP insurrections of 1971 and 1988-89 and the recurring phases of the Eelam war from 1983 to 2009. But of all these periods of violence, the anti-Tamil violence of July 1983 stands apart. For a whole week from July 23, the country was set on fire with the Tamil people at the receiving end. One part of the government planned the conflagration while the other was paralysed and failed to protect innocent Tamil lives. In the main prison in Colombo, Tamil prisoners were massacred. Virtually the entire Tamil population of Colombo was evacuated to Jaffna.

The government’s proposed NGO law is a heavy-handed piece of legislation. The government’s justification is that regulating NGOs is necessary to comply with the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which is an inter-governmental body that among other things aims to address issues of terrorist financing and money laundering. Furtherm that there is a sense of urgency because the government is required to respond to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) before October. NGOs are one of 17 sectors in which the FATF expects the government to demonstrate measures to address terrorist financing and money laundering risks. However, in its present form, this proposed law can alienate many NGOs, even those that broadly support the government’s reform agenda.

The prison violence in Negombo has become the first major crisis to confront the government since it came to power. The government may or may not be responsible for creating the conditions that have accumulated over decades and made the prison system a powder keg. The fact is the government's Ratama Ekata anti-drug crackdown boosted the countrywide prison population from 28,000 in late 2024 to 41,000 in 2026. The conditions of imprisonment include chronic overcrowding, poor infrastructure, inadequate staffing, the penetration of organised crime and drug networks into prisons, and the long neglect of prison reform by successive governments. The Negombo prison was housing approximately 2,600 inmates at the time of the clashes although it was built for only about 650. By the time order was restored, 29 people, including seven prison officers, had lost their lives and more than one hundred others had been injured.

Cyclone Ditwah was the most destructive natural disaster to strike Sri Lanka since the 2004 tsunami. More than 640 people lost their lives, over 170 remain missing and more than 2.2 million people throughoþut the country were affected. Estimates placed the economic cost at over US$4 billion, equivalent to about four percent of Sri Lanka’s Gross Domestic Product. Sri Lanka could not cope with a disaster of this scale alone. International assistance was essential and it came quickly. India was the first country to send emergency relief, technical expertise and assistance to restore damaged infrastructure. Other South Asian countries also contributed humanitarian assistance. The Maldivian people collected and gave more than their government. This response was significant for reasons that went beyond humanitarian relief. It showed that person-to-person sympathies in South Asia can transcend nationality and religion.

Sri Lankans have reason to take satisfaction in their country’s latest international achievement. Sri Lanka has climbed 14 places in the 2026 Global Peace Index to rank 67 in the world out of 163 countries that were assessed. At a time when global peacefulness is reported to be at its lowest level since the inception of the Index, and when more countries are experiencing deterioration than improvement, Sri Lanka’s progress stands out. The ranking reflects the country’s recovery from nearly three decades of war, its efforts to strengthen political stability and public security, and its resilience in overcoming the economic and political crises of recent years. The Global Peace Index assesses the strength of institutions, societal safety and security, and the capacity of societies to manage conflict peacefully.

The legal processes are steadily closing in on some of the most controversial cases that have remained as open questions without closure for many years. These include the Easter Sunday bombings of 2019, the Central Bank bond scandal that erupted in 2015, and a range of corruption allegations that became synonymous with successive governments over the past two or more decades. What once appeared to be stalled investigations are now showing signs of movement through the courts and investigative agencies. Recent developments suggest that these long running cases are entering a decisive phase. In the Easter Sunday attacks investigation, new arrests and investigations have brought renewed attention to allegations that extend beyond the immediate perpetrators and into questions of intelligence failures and possible political complicity. The arrest and detention of former intelligence chief Suresh Sallay under the Prevention of Terrorism Act has intensified public interest in uncovering the full truth behind the attacks.

In their Vesak messages this year, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Prime Minister Harini Amarasuriya highlighted the values of reconciliation, coexistencArte and justice as essential to Sri Lanka's future. President Dissanayake emphasised that Buddhism's teachings remain deeply relevant to contemporary society and described Vesak as a symbol of "mutual understanding, unity and coexistence among all communities" and of reconciliation itself. Prime Minister Amarasuriya similarly called for the building of a society in which justice is assured to all irrespective of caste, race or religion. These messages were not merely religious aspirations, they were a direct challenge to the most serious failures in Sri Lanka's post-independence history. These include the three decade long war, its human rights violations and the inability to implement a political solution.

At a symposium on reconciliation organised by the National Peace Council last week, more than 250 religious clergy, civic activists and political representatives from different communities gathered to discuss the country’s future. Speaking at the event, Minister Bimal Rathnayake explained the government’s approach to national reconciliation. He said the government viewed the country’s recovery in terms of a three stage process. The first stage was stabilisation, the second was development and the third was transformation. Reconciliation, he implied, would come in that final stage. The participation of Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa at the same symposium, and the constructive nature of his comments, would strengthen that hope.

Time, it is said, is the great healer. But there are some wounds that will not heal with time. They need specific and focused treatment. The dates May 18 and 19, the two final days of Sri Lanka’s three decade long war, are less in the consciousness of the people than before. But the continuation of the untreated and unhealed wounds of the war continues to be seen in the many groups of people who gather to remember their loved ones on these days. In Colombo, a group of victim families and. committed activists from different communities gathered at Wellawatte beach and lit lamps.. These gatherings are also a political statement that the wounds of the war remain untreated and unhealed.

The death of the most important suspect in the SriLankan Airlines Airbus deal has drawn intense public speculation. Kapila Chandrasena the former CEO of the heavily loss-making national airline was found dead under circumstances that the police are still investigating. He had recently been arrested by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption in connection with the controversial Airbus aircraft purchase agreement signed in 2013. Police investigations are continuing into the cause of death and whether or not he committed suicide. The unresolved death brings to light the high stakes involved in accountability efforts of this nature.

The ongoing peace march by a group of international Buddhist monks has captured the sentiment of Sri Lankans in a manner that few public events have done in recent times. It is led by the Vietnamese monk Venerable Thich Pannakara who is associated with a mindfulness movement that has roots in Vietnamese Buddhist practice and actively promoted among diaspora communities in the United States. The peace march by the monks, accompanied by their mascot, the dog Aloka, has generated affection and goodwill within the Buddhist and larger community. It follows earlier peace walks in the United States where monks carried a similar message of mindfulness and compassion across communities but without any government or even media patronage as in Sri Lanka.

Glimpses of an Ancient Civilisation: Society and Culture in Jaffna (300 BC to AD 500) by Professor S. Pathmanathan. SSSR Investments Pty Ltd, Australia, 2026. Pp. 370.

In reflecting on the work of Professor S. Pathmanathan, my mind goes back to the difficult years of war, when fear and mistrust had entered almost every sphere of national life. Those were times when it was easier, and often safer, to remain on one side than to reach across to the other. Yet what I remember most about him from those years is not only the depth of his scholarship, but the steadiness of his convictions and the generosity with which he engaged those who differed from him. At a time when history was often invoked to divide, he remained committed to using it to illuminate and connect. It is with that memory in mind that I read his latest work, Glimpses of an Ancient Civilization.

The government prevailed at the no confidence motion against Minister of Energy Kumara Jayakody by a large parliamentary majority. The vote was 153 against and 49 in favour, a majority of 104. The significance of this debate and vote lies not only in the numerical strength of the government, but in the larger questions of credibility and consistency that it has brought into public view. Behind the margin of victory were two significant factors. One was that the opposition parties joined together in their vote against the energy minister. The second was that the government had 159 seats in parliament. However, the real issue is not whether the government can win parliamentary votes, but whether it can sustain the moral authority on which its mandate rests.

The resignation of Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody comes after several weeks of controversy over his ministerial role. The controversy sharpened when the minister was indicted by the Commission on Bribery and Corruption for a transaction he was involved in ten years ago as a government official in the Fertiliser Corporation. The other issue was the government’s purchase of substandard coal from a new supplier. Minister Jayakody’s resignation followed the appointment of a Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry to investigate coal and petroleum purchases. The minister who resigned, along with the Secretary to the Ministry of Energy, Udayanga Hemapala, stated that they did not wish to compromise the integrity of the investigation to be undertaken by the Commission of Inquiry.

Representatives of almost all the main opposition parties were in attendance at the recent book launch by Pivithuru Hela Urumaya leader Udaya Gammanpila. The book written by the PHU leader was his analysis of the Easter bombing of April 2019 that led to the mass killing of 279 persons, caused injuries to more than 500 others and caused panic and shock in the entire country. The Easter bombing was inexplicable for a number of reasons. First, it was perpetrated by suicide bombers who were Sri Lankan Muslims, a community not known for this practice. They targeted Christian churches in particular, which led to the largest number of casualties. The bombing of Sri Lankan Christian churches by Sri Lankan Muslims was also inexplicable in a country that had no history of any serious violence between the two religions.

Minister Bimal Rathnayake has urged all Sri Lankan refugees in India to return to Sri Lanka,stating that provision has been made for their reintegration. He called on India to grant citizenship to those who wished to stay on in India, but added that the government would welcome them back with both hands if they chose Sri Lanka. He gave due credit to the Organisation for Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation (OfERR), an NGO led by SC Chandrahasan, the son of SJV Chelvanayakam, widely regarded as the foremost advocate of a federal solution and a historic leader of the Federal Party. OfERR has for decades assisted refugees, particularly Sri Lankan Tamils in India, with documentation, advocacy and voluntary repatriation support. Given the slow pace of resettlement of Ditwah cyclone victims, the government will need to make adequate preparations for an influx of Indian returnees for which it will need all possible assistance. The minister’s acknowledgement indicates that the government appreciates the work of NGOs when they directly assist people.